Preliminary studies on the ensilage of some species of tropical grasses in the Ashanti forest belt of Ghana
1974
Tuah, A.K., Department of Animal Production, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Science and Technology, Kumasi (Ghana) | Okyere, O., Animal Husbandry Division, Ministry of Agriculture, Nungua, (Ghana)
Silages were prepared from four species of tropical grasses: guatemala grass (Trypsacum laxum), giant star grass (Cynodon plectostachyus), guinea grass (Panicum maximum) and elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum) in two trials. In the first trial, the grasses were subjected to two treatments: wilting on the field for 4 h and no wilting. The silages were evaluated using odour, colour, and feel. In the second trial, the grasses were subjected to two treatments: addition of ground maize grain at the rate of 10% of the weight of the fresh grasses and no addition of ground maize grain. The silages were evaluated using odour, colour, feel,pH values, lactic acid bacteria counts, and dry matter intake of the silages by eight adult West African Dwarf ewes. In the first trial, high moisture content (above 79 %) adversely affected fermentation. In the second trial, addition of ground maize grains gave significant differences for pH values (P = 0,01) and also increased dry matter intake of the silages. Lactic acid bacteria count was not a reliable criterion for evaluating quality.
Show more [+] Less [-]AGROVOC Keywords
Bibliographic information
This bibliographic record has been provided by Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Institute for Scientific and Technological Information